Orville Frost and Catherine Worman: The Early Years in

Illinois and Missouri

One hundred and fifty years ago, the Civil war was drawing to a close,
President Lincoln was assassinated, and our common ancestor, Orville Frost,
was thinking about going home to his family in Illinois. After three years of
Infantry service, where he faced long marches, combat, and sickness, Orville
was ready to see his parents, his sisters, and his baby brother Wilbur who
was born while Orville and Luther were away. On this day In May 1865,
Orville was laid up in camp near Montgomery, Alabama. Later in June, he
would travel by boat to Mobile, then to New Orleans, up the Mississippi River
past Vicksburg, MS, Helena, AR, Memphis, TN and Columbus, KY; arriving in
Cairo, IL on September 2. On September 10 he arrived at Quincy, IL where
he gratefully reunited with his family. But not with his future, wife, Catherine
Worman.
After reviewing the letters Orville sent home during the Civil War, I could find
no mention of Catherine in any of them. Therefore, I conclude that the
relationship between Orville and Catherine likely began after he returned
from the War. As the Wormans were nearby residents, Orville and Catherine
probably knew each other as children but I could find nothing that suggested
anything further. It is likely that their courtship began through church
socials, sleigh rides, ice skating, and parties as was the custom of the time.
In any event, there were a romantically committed couple by March 1867;
roughly 18 months after he returned to Quincy.
The timeline for Orvilles comings and goings seems to have revolved around
the agricultural year. Arriving home in the late summer of 1865, I am sure
Orville helped harvest the crops and tended to family farm duties during the
fall and winter of 1865-1866. His father, Worthy Frost, who farmed in Adams
County, IL, had managed during three years of the War with only his wife and
two daughters to help. I am sure he was grateful to have his grown sons
back home to help out. It appears that both Orville and Luther stayed on the
farm during 1866. However, the wartime experiences, which included travel
and seeing the better part of seven southern states, left both boys restless
for new land.
In the Spring of 1867, Orville wrote Catherine (now the more familiar Kate)
from Petersville, Kansas. Petersville no longer exists but Google tells me it

was located in Southeast Kansas in Cherokee County. This would place it

pretty much west of Joplin and north of Baxter Springs. He writes I have not
yet succeeded in finding and getting a place that would suite me but I shall
try and find one during the coming week. Clearly Orville intended to settle
in Southeast Kansas on this trip. It is also clear that Orville intended Kate to
be part of this resettlement.
The trip that ended in Southeast Kansas was initially undertaken by
steamboat, leaving St. Louis for St. Joseph and going up the Missouri River.
The early spring trip to Petersville was during the wet season, Orville writing
that we had a grand time of it, the mud and us but we gained the victory
over mud and arrived here Saturday evening about dark.
In this same letter, Orville tells Kate that he will be back in Illinois on the 20th
of the month (March 1867) if nothing hinders him. He also states that this
first letter to her so we know that they did not correspond during the War.
Given the proximity of Petersville to Jasper County, it is quite possible that he
journeyed slightly east on his way back home and saw the prairies near here.
At this point, some must be wondering how he ended up on the
Kansas/Missouri line when his Civil War duties were mostly in Tennessee,
Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
One explanation might involve a shift in military strategy. In 1864, Orville
was sent back north with a large Union army into Missouri to chase down and
capture the forces of Confederate General Sterling Price (who incidentally
figured into the Battle of Carthage in 1861). They never did catch up with
him, primarily because, as Luther wrote to his parents, It is not much use to
run infantry after mounted men. The attempts to catch General Price took
Orville into central Missouri (Sedalia, Glasgow, Waverly) and over toward
Kansas City (Harrisonsville, Lexington, Dover) and the Blue River. Luther
wrote that We passed through as pretty a country yesterday and day
before as I ever saw. Given this positive endorsement, it is likely that Orville
and Luther decided to return to this general area to search for a new
homestead. One could also speculate that it did not have negative memories
attached to this general geographic region like the southern states which
were remembered for sickness and death.
As far as anyone can tell, the brothers did not find a suitable place in
Southeast Kansas or anywhere else and returned to Illinois as planned. Since
planting season begins in late spring in Illinois, Orville and Luther probably
farmed with Worthy Frost through the spring and summer. However, by late

summer 1867, Orville was again searching for a suitable place for himself
and Kate. His diary entry, dated September 12, says, The last good bye is
given and I start for the southwest, arrived in Quincy, crossed the river and
camped for the night. This is the commencement of keeping batch. This
reference tells us Orville was still quite single although he definitely did not
intend to leave Kate behind in Illinois for very long. Although he missed her,
he wrote that the prospect of having a home where we will enjoy each
others company will help me to bear it.
Orville arrived ten miles north of Lamar, MO on September 24th, 1867. He
wrote he was moving over hills and hollows and acrost prairies and camping
at nights. Given the distance covered from Quincy, IL to Lamar, MO he
would have averaged about 30 miles a day. He drove a team of horses or
perhaps mules from Quincy, he didnt specify.
This is where the timeline gets curious. In this letter written 10 miles north
of Lamar, Orville tells Kate that he is about 24 miles from our future home.
Assuming he headed south, 24 miles would put him around Jasper; nowhere
near Southeast Kansas. Obviously, he either had found a place near Jasper
during the earlier trip to Petersville or had made this decision by some
other means. In any event, the future home had been determined and it
was likely in northern Jasper County; somewhere south of current day Jasper.
Within two weeks of arriving, his letter to Kate tells us he is making hay,
cutting corn, preparing ground for wheat and getting timber to build a house.
This is a really quick start from nothing so I must conclude that previous
plans must have been made and that their land had previously been farmed.
Orville sends Luther down to Carthage to get some provisions and lumber;
perhaps another strong indication that they had settled north of the current
day city. They put up a 8 foot by 12 foot shanty. As he describes it, the bed
takes up one half the room, the stove the other half, a cupboard and chest
the third half so there is only the fourth half left for us two little scrubby
runts. He refers to the shanty as Batchelors Hall. To continue his tongue
and cheek humor, Orville writes that he bought a Peerless (brand) stove and
we do very good cooking on it but when I get that Peerless cook from Illinois,
there will be some Peerless cooking done. Once again he lets us know that
he does not intend to be separated from Kate for very long.
In her reply, Kate wonders about Orvilles western home: how things look
down here and whether, the people raised anything to live on and whether

there is any grasshoppers, etc. He tries to assure her that things arent that
much different.
Within a month of arriving in Jasper County, Orville writes he has sown his
wheat, framed his house, and got the lumber for a house of his own. It will
be 14 feet by 26 feet, one story high, two rooms: one 14 by 14 feet, and one
12 by 14 feet. He and Luther have purchased 275 more acres of land to go
with their original 80 acres for a total of 355 acres. This land was apparently
purchased from a man named Busby. Orville intends to fence 120 acres
around the house to make it look more like a home. He writes that he is well
pleased with this part of the state and thinks that he stopped in the right
place. He describes it as a place with large prairies, timber on the creeks
and creek bottoms. When he arrived, the prairie had the appearance of a
great flower garden although it is all dead now. Sometimes at night the
country looks as if it was all on fire. The ashes flying through the air makes
quite a fog so it is not pleasant to be out in it.
By late October 1867, Kate is growing lonesome for Orville and impatient
with the waiting game. Her letters contain references to other marriages,
gossip about when he was coming back and for what purpose, that she is
rapidly becoming the last young girl in the community, that she wished he
would come over but knew it wasnt, etc. and admonitions for him to be a
good little boy. Orville, on the other hand, is busy farming, building a
home, tending to domestic chores, hauling stone, splitting rails, and keeping
stock. She asked if he got the blues but he told her, some stole them from
him when he was a little boy and he never went to get them back. It will be
at least six more months before he makes tentative plans to return to Quincy.
In November, 1867, Orville writes that he intends to return to Illinois in the
spring to help out at home. This continues the patterns of trying to provide
Worthy Frost with the manpower he needs to work the family farm. Luther
will stay in Jasper County to take care of the farm until Orville returns in the
fall. This plan provides Orville with an opportunity to get things arranged
between he and Kate, and to make provision for a permanent move to
Missouri.
The winter months of late 1867/early 1868 are lonesome for both Orville and
Kate. They frequently wrote of their feelings for each other and their
expectations of the coming year. She wants to know when he is coming
back. Orville and Luther amused themselves by starting a singing school
with only themselves as pupils. He thought the natives sang rather poorly

and would be easily charmed if Kate would also learn to sing before she
came. Luther continued to hunt and trap; taking deer, wild turkeys and
otters.
In January 1868, Orville is hauling rails to build a new fence which, he says,
takes in about 18 acres of an old field which had been cultivated before the
war. This will be some help to me or both of us. I mean you and I nobody
else. Perhaps this is reading too much between the lines, but maybe this is
an early indication that Orville and Luther would part ways as soon as Orville
and Catherine became a married couple. It also tells us that Orville did not
settle on virgin prairie but on a farm that had been previously worked.
As they were during the War, Orville and Luther are still partners in this great
adventure. They completed the house over the winter. It must have
impressed the neighbors as they received offers to build others. Keep in
mind, neither had any previous experience in house construction. Orville
agreed to build another house for the simple reason he could hire someone
to split rails while drove nails. In his words, he would shove the plane and
saw which is much easier than swinging a maul. For his part, Luther would
use his new found carpentering skills to build homes in Barton County,
Kansas when he migrated further west in 1871.
In February 1868, Orville writes Kate that he has bought some chickens so
she could get rid of her lame, blind, deranged, crazy, frozen, tired, sick
ones as he would give her some that were all right. He also writes that he
expects to be back in April when he finishes building the house for his
customer. Kates reply was written on the Sabbath. She remarked that They
used to tell me it was wicked to write letters on Sunday.
When I transcribed Orville letter of February 28, 1868 I thought I had missed
something as he wrote Kate that he would be six years old tomorrow. Dont
you think I had better quit writing girls until I get older? Does anyone know
what this meant? Kate replied that a six year old was too young to be writing
to girls.
By March 1868, Kate is getting anxious for Orville to return to Quincy as that
was the original return date. However, Orville is sowing oats, getting the
fields ready for corn, building fence, hauling rocks and making improvement.
He is a bit evasive about when he will begin his trip back but does tell her
that he will travel to Kansas City and then eastward to St. Louis; whether by
boat or rail isnt clear. He also tells her that this (March 22, 1868) is the end
of the many letters he has written to her.

The letters between Orville and Catherine stop at this point. Catherine is
afraid anything she sends will be delivered to Luther and he would find her
to be as green and simple as can be. For his part, Orville is on the road
back to Quincy. Without any additional documentation, one can only assume
a happy reunion, wedding plans, and hopes for the future. Orville and
Catherine get married on September 17, 1868. They return to Jasper County
and begin a life together which resulted in this family reunion today.

[Composed by Douglas Fugate, Bowling Green, KY, May 2015, from

transcripts and original letters. All dates and events are as represented by
the historical figures unless otherwise noted. Further additions and
explanations are encouraged.]